Let Your Speech Be Always With Grace (repost)

So honored to have JoJoTabares, a whiz at communication, as guest blogger today! Please leave her a comment. Thanks for lettin' me share your article JoJo!

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:6

The Bible is filled with scriptures that teach us about our communication: our mouths, lips, tongues and words. This is one of my favorite verses.

God knows the heart of every man and, in that heart, is a different way of looking at the world. We may not always be able to see things as others do, but we have one powerful verse that tells us what we can do to be effective when we communicate with every man. God tells us to let our speech be always with grace. Giving grace allows us to forgive and forget a wrong, a word spoken in haste, a misunderstanding, a poor choice of words on someone else's part.

How many times have we said (or wanted to say) something harsh to someone because we thought they had “done us wrong” only to find out later on it was a misunderstanding on our part? Weren't you glad you didn't? Or didn't you wish you had shown them grace?

The Lord tells us that our communication default mode should be grace. Grace-filled communication allows us to share our hearts with other hearts that we don't totally understand. Being gracious, even when we don't feel it is justified, allows us to reach out, to lift up, to support, to share our hearts, to educate, to inform and to save face.

JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer. Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula. You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com. For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication skills for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com

Lord, thank you for your blessin's. Keep us mindful of our speech 'n may it always be with grace. In the name of Jesus, amen.